Work With Me
by Mello Longfellow
Summary: Mello breaks the news to Matt that L is dead. Fluff, can be taken as either friendship and platonic, OR as yaoi slash A one-shot, WILL NOT BE CONTINUED SO DON'T ASK! xD There WILL, however, be more one-shots in the future. :


**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own Matt or Mello, who are from Death Note. I just WISH I owned them. D:

_A/N: _Yaoi warning! But I will say, this can be read as either yaoi OR just a bit of friendship fluff. ^^

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Mello didn't really understand at first. He knew that their mentor was dead. His mind knew it anyway. But his heart just didn't want to accept that fact.

Near. . .he'd changed too, Mello could tell. He was still a pain in the butt and he still insisted on towering dice, scrabble chips or whatever else he could find. But Near talked even less and spent more of his time assessing things.

Mello knew he had a job to do. He _had_ to find Kira, more than anything, now. For Lawliet. But he wasn't ready yet.

Now, lying on his bed, face in the pillow, boots still on, he tried not to cry. His eyes stung and he gritted his teeth. He was stronger than this. So much stronger.

Not knowing what else to do, Mello reached over to his nightstand and took a bar of chocolate, unwrapping it half-heartedly. As he took a bite of the cold, creamy chocolate, he calmed slightly. Chocolate was the number one cure for everything.

"Hello, Mello." said a sassy voice.

Mello turned his head, his red hair dancing. Standing, no, leaning, in the doorway was Matt, cigarette in mouth. Without waiting for further invitation, he sauntered into the room.

"What's up, man?"

"Chocolate." Mello said, taking another, more enthusiastic, bite.

Matt's goggles were hanging around his neck and his hair was a mess.

"What about you?" Mello asked.

Matt shrugged, taking a puff from his cigarette. "Just did a ton of sudoku, but I got bored." He sat on the edge of the bed, then flopped backwards. "Whatcha wanna do?"

Mello savored his chocolate thoughtfully. He wasn't even sure Matt had heard the news. "I don't really feel like doing _anything_. Except. . ." _Planning revenge._

"Except what?" Matt asked, removing his cigarette from his mouth.

Mello leaned back to lie beside Matt. "L. . ." he started, then stopped, unsure how to proceed. Also, because he felt his throat tighten a bit, and the _last_ thing he wanted to do was cry in front of Matt.

Matt looked over, their faces only inches from one another's. "What?" he carefully took another puff from his cigarette, making sure not to get it too close to Mello, who moved away anyway. Ah, paranoia. But then, he'd been burned so many times, who could blame him? Being in a close proximity with Matt meant you'd be sharing it with his cigarette, no buts. (Haha, whoops, a pun! ;))

"L's. . ."

Matt blew out, upwards, and watched the smoke drift towards the ceiling.

"He's dead." Mello never thought two words could be so hard to say. He quickly took another bite of chocolate.

Matt didn't react at first. Just inhaled some more smoke and breathed out slowly. The two boys lay in silence for a few minutes more. Then, finally, Matt spoke. "Near?"

"What?"

"I'm guessing he chose Near." Matt said, shrugging. "I mean, it makes sense." he sounded disinterested, but Mello knew he was disappointed.

"He hadn't chosen yet." Mello admitted bitterly.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "So. . .what now?"

"We find Kira."

"All of us?"

Mello looked at Matt, giving him a look that said 'duh, not.' The corner of Matt's lips twitched a little before he broke into a grin. "Of course not. You never work with Near."

Mello took a bite of chocolate. Nothing better than the feeling of rich chocolate melting in one's mouth.

After a few seconds, Matt sighed. Mello decided not to say anything at first. He knew Matt preferred silence. . .time to think, when he was upset by something.

But when he spoke, Mello knew he expected a reply.

"What do you have in mind?"

Mello didn't have a complete plan yet. He had ideas, though. "You working with me." he said slowly. That was one of the few things he _knew_ he wanted.

Matt blew another cloud of smoke upwards. "You got it." he said, placing his right arm around Mello's shoulders.

"I want to hear your ideas too, because. . .well. . ." Mello swallowed.

Matt grinned, putting his cigarette out on the bed post. "You don't have a plan yet, do you?"

Mello shifted uncomfortably.

Matt just laughed, edging closer to rest his head on Mello's bare shoulder. Mello fleetingly thought, _I _knew _I should have worn something with sleeves today!_

"The most important thing this time isn't to be better than Near, though." Matt reminded his friend gently. "It's to avenge L."

Mello sighed. "I know, but. . .if we can do both, that's good to."

Another chuckle from Matt. Mello loved that sound. Because it told him that his best friend in the whole world was happy, even in the midst of tragedy.

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Review? -offers chocolate- :o


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